Vacuum cleaner with air powered tool

ABSTRACT

A vacuum cleaner base has an inlet and is configured to draw air through the inlet. A tool is configured to be removably attached to the base to be powered by the air to rotate a tool bit about a rotational axis. The tool enables a user to select the orientation of the rotational axis by turning the tool relative to the base. The tool fixes the selected orientation relative to the base.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This application relates to vacuum cleaners.

BACKGROUND

A nozzle is removably attachable to a vacuum cleaner base. The base generates a flow of air that carries dirt from a floor through the nozzle into the base to clean the floor.

SUMMARY

A vacuum cleaner base has an inlet and is configured to draw air through the inlet. A tool is configured to be removably attached to the base to be powered by the air to rotate a tool bit about a rotational axis. The tool enables a user to select the orientation of the rotational axis by turning the tool relative to the base. The tool fixes the selected orientation relative to the base.

Preferably, the base has wheels enabling wheeling the base over a table top to adjust the horizontal position of the rotational axis. An inlet guard is removably attachable to the base to filter debris from the air entering the inlet. The tool is removably attachable to the base through the guard and supported by the base through the guard, for the tool to be powered by the air drawn through the guard into the inlet. The turning of the tool relative to the base is about a turning axis that is perpendicular to the rotational axis and intersects the rotational axis.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a vacuuming system, including a vacuum cleaner base, a nozzle, an inlet guard, a vacuuming hose and an air tool;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the nozzle attached to the base;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the guard attached to the base;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the vacuuming hose attached to the guard; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the tool attached to the guard.

DESCRIPTION

The apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 has parts that are examples of the elements recited in the claims. The apparatus 1 thus includes examples of how a person of ordinary skill in the art can make and use the claimed invention. It is described here to meet the requirements of enablement and best mode without imposing limitations that are not recited in the claims.

The apparatus 1 is a vacuuming system. It includes a vacuum cleaner base 10 and a handle 14 extending upward from the base 10. The base 10 has front and rear wheels 20 and 22 for wheeling the base 10 over a floor 24. A fan 30 in the base 10 draws air through an inlet 32 of the base 10 and exhausts the air out an outlet 34 of the base 10. The outlet 34 can be connected to a filter bag 40 suspended from the handle 14, for the bag 40 to filter out dirt from the exhausted air. Alternatively, the outlet 34 can be connected to a blower hose 42 to use the exhausted air to blow debris or inflate things. A nozzle 50 is connectable to the inlet 32 for vacuum cleaning the floor 24. Alternatively, an inlet guard 52 can be connected to inlet 32 to filter room air being drawn through the guard 52 into the inlet 32. A vacuuming hose 54 can be attached to the guard 52 for vacuuming above-the-floor household surfaces. An air tool 56 can be attached to the guard 52 for the base 10 to power the tool 56.

The nozzle 50 has hooks 100 that hook onto a perch pin 102 of the base 10 and a flange 104 that is captured by a latch 106 of the base 10. A brushroll 110 in the nozzle 50 is configured to be coupled by a belt 112 to a drive pulley 114 of the base 10.

FIG. 2 shows the nozzle 50 removably attached to the base 10. The nozzle 50 is supported by the base 10 in a fixed position relative to the base 10 in that it will move in unison with the base 10 as the base 10 is lifted and moved. In operation, the brushroll 110 rotates against the floor 24 to dislodge dirt. The dirt is carried by a flow (arrows 125) of air through the nozzle 50 and the inlet 32 into the base 10 and is exhausted through the base outlet 34 into the bag 40. The air escapes through the bag 40 leaving the dirt retained in the bag 40.

FIG. 3 shows the guard 52 removably attached to and supported by the base 10 in a fixed position relative to the base 10. Like the nozzle 50 (FIG. 2), the guard 52 has hooks 200 that hook onto the base's perch pin 102 and a flange 204 captured by the base's latch 106. At the front end 220 of the guard 52 is a filter plate 222 with holes 224. The holes 224 are sized to pass air and fine particles while blocking objects larger than the holes 224, such as debris and a user's finger. An inlet tube 230, with a radially-outer cylindrical engagement surface 231, extends rearward from the filter plate 222. The inlet tube 230 is surrounded by a shroud 234 with a cylindrical radially-inner surface 235 facing the inlet tube 230.

In operation, a flow of room air follows a path 245 extending through the filter plate 222 and the inlet tube 230 into the base inlet 32 and out the blower hose 42. The flow 245 is surrounded by a rear seal formed by and between the base 10 and an annular rear edge 246 of the guard 52.

FIG. 4 shows the vacuuming hose 54 removably attached to the guard 52. Dirt is carried by a flow of air along a flow path 265 extending from a surface to be cleaned through the hose 54, the guard 52 and the base 10 into the filter bag 40. The filter plate 222 filters debris 270 from the air. Finer particles are captured in the bag 40.

A friction fit is formed by and between a connector tube 280 of the hose 54 and the engagement surface 231 of the guard 52. The cylindrical engagement surface 231 is slightly frustoconical to facilitate the friction fit. Alternatively, the friction fit can be formed by and between the hose connector tube 280 and the radially inner surface 235 of the shroud 234. The friction fit, formed by the inlet tube 230 or the shroud 234, forms a seal surrounding the air flow path 265. The shroud 234 protects the proximal end 284 of the connector tube 280 and hides it from view.

The guard's engagement surface 231 is circularly symmetric about an axis 285 to enable an infinite number of possible circumferential orientations of the hose connector tube 280 about the axis 285 over a 360° range relative to the guard 52. This enables the user to mount the hose connector tube 280 to the guard 52 without regard to circumferential orientation of the connector tube 280. Once mounted, the connector tube 280 is inhibited, by friction of the friction fit, from being withdrawn or turned.

The engagement surface 231 of the guard 52 can be designed to match the engagement surface 291 of the base outlet 34 that is friction fitted to the bag 40 and the blower hose 42 (FIG. 3). This would enable the same hose connector tube 280 to be friction fitted over both the guard 52 and the base outlet 34. The vacuuming hose 54 could then be made identical to the blower hose 42 (FIG. 3) to reduce the number of different parts.

FIG. 5 shows the tool 56 removably attached to and supported by the guard 52 in a fixed position relative to the base 10, with the base 10 resting on a table top 400. The tool 56 includes an air motor 410 powered by the air (arrows 415) drawn through the tool 56 and the guard 52 to rotate an arbor 420 about its rotational axis 425. The arbor 420 is a shaft to which a tool bit 430, in this case a grinding wheel, is fixed. Debris 438 passed through the air motor 410 is blocked by the filter plate 222 from entering the fan 30. Finer particles are caught in the filter bag 40.

A connector tube 440 of the tool 56 is identical to the connector tube 280 of the vacuuming hose 54. It is rigidly fixed to the air motor 410 and centered on a tube axis 445 that perpendicularly intersects the rotational axis 425. The inner surface 441 of tube 440 contacts the outer surface 231 of the guard's inlet tube 230 in a friction fit. Alternatively, the tube 440 is friction fitted to the inner surface 235 of the guard's shroud 234. The friction fit, formed by either the inlet tube 230 or the shroud 234, surrounds the air flowing through the guard 52 into the base inlet 32. The friction fit coincides with an annular seal surrounding the air flowing through the guard 52.

As explained above, the engagement surface 231 is circularly symmetric about the tube axis 445. This enables the user to orient the tool 56, the arbor 420, the tool bit 430 and the rotational axis 425 in any orientation relative to the base 10 about the tube axis 445 over a 360° range. Once mounted to the guard 52, the tool 56 is inhibited by friction of the friction fit from being withdrawn from or turned about the guard 52. This fixes the selected orientations of the tool 56, the arbor 420, the tool bit 430 and the rotational axis 425 relative to the base 10. However, the user can adjust (arrow 465) the orientation of these components 56, 420, 430 and 425 by turning the tool 56 about the tube axis 445 with enough force to overcome the friction. This forces the contacting surfaces 231 and 441 of the seal to slide against each other without breaking the seal. The required force can be reduced by slightly withdrawing the tool 56 from the guard 52 to loosen or break the seal before turning the tool 56 to a new orientation.

The user can adjust the horizontal position of the tool 56, the arbor 420, the bit 430 and the rotational axis 425 by wheeling the base 10 forward or rearward, on its wheels 20 and 22, over the table top 400.

In another configuration, the tool 56 is connected to the base 10 through the vacuuming hose 54 shown in FIG. 4. The hose's proximal connector tube 280 is attached to the guard 52, and the hose's distal connector tube 480 can be friction fitted into the connector tube 440 of the tool 56.

In yet another configuration, the guard's inlet tube 230 and the connector tubes 280 and 440 of the hose 54 and tool 56 are splined. This reduces the number of possible orientations of the connectors 280 and 440 to the number of splines.

This written description uses examples to disclose the invention, including the best mode, and also to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the invention. The patentable scope of the invention is defined by the claims, and may include other examples that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples are intended to be within the scope of the claims if they have elements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims, or if they include equivalent structural elements with insubstantial differences from the literal language of the claims. 

1. An apparatus comprising: a vacuum cleaner base having an inlet and configured to draw air through the inlet; and an air tool configured to be removably attached to the base to be powered by the air to rotate a tool bit about a rotational axis and enabling a user to select the orientation of the rotational axis by turning the tool relative to the base and fixing the selected orientation relative to the base.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a vacuuming nozzle configured to be removably attached to the base to be supported by the base and to conduct the air from a floor into the inlet to clean the floor.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the base has wheels enabling wheeling the base over a table top to adjust the horizontal position of the rotational axis.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising an inlet guard removably attachable to the base to filter debris from the air entering the inlet, and by which the tool is attachable to and supported by the base for the tool to be powered by the air that is drawn through the guard into the inlet.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said turning of the tool is about a turning axis that is perpendicular to the rotational axis.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said turning of the tool is about an axis that intersects the rotational axis.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a cylindrical surface fixedly positioned relative to the base, with which the tool forms a friction fit seal surrounding the air drawn through the inlet.
 8. An apparatus comprising: a vacuum cleaner base having wheels and an inlet, and configured to draw air through the inlet; and an air tool configured to be removably attached to the base to be powered by the air drawn through the inlet to rotate a tool bit about a rotational axis and to fix an orientation of the rotational axis relative to the base and to enable adjusting the horizontal position of the rotational axis by wheeling the base on its wheels over a table top.
 9. The apparatus of claim 8 further comprising a vacuuming nozzle configured to be removably attached to the base to be supported by the base and to conduct the air from a floor into the inlet to clean the floor.
 10. The apparatus of claim 8 further comprising an inlet guard removably attachable to the base to filter debris from the air drawn through the guard into the inlet, and by which the tool is attachable to and supported by the base for the tool to be powered by the air.
 11. The apparatus of claim 8 further comprising an engagement surface fixedly positioned relative to the base, with which the tool forms a friction fit seal surrounding the air flowing through the inlet.
 12. An apparatus comprising: a vacuum cleaner base having an inlet and configured to draw air through the inlet; an inlet guard configured to be removably attached to and supported by the base in a fixed position relative to the base to cover the inlet and filter out debris from the air entering the inlet; and an air tool configured to be removably attached to and supported by the guard to be powered by the air drawn through the guard.
 13. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein the tool is configured, when attached to the guard, to fix the orientation of a rotational axis of a tool bit relative to the base.
 14. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein the tool and the guard form a friction fit seal surrounding the air drawn through the guard into the inlet.
 15. An apparatus comprising: a vacuum cleaner base having an inlet and configured to draw air through the inlet; an inlet guard configured to be removably attached to the base to filter debris from the air flowing through the guard into the inlet; and a device configured to be attached to the guard and to form with the guard a seal surrounding the flow path for the device to perform a function with the air.
 16. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the seal is a friction fit seal.
 17. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the device can be turned relative to the guard, by contacting surfaces of the seal sliding against each other, into in any one of a range of possible orientations.
 18. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the device uses the air to rotate a tool bit.
 19. An apparatus comprising: a vacuum cleaner base having an inlet and configured to draw air through the inlet; and an inlet guard configured to be removably attached to the base in a condition in which the guard is supported by the base in a fixed position relative to the base and filters debris from a flow of the air drawn through the guard into the inlet and having a cylindrical surface configured to form a friction fit seal surrounding the flow.
 20. The apparatus of claim 19 wherein the cylindrical surface is slightly frustoconical. 